The purposes of this study were to (1) develop a task as a measure of rhythmic conservation in young instrumentalists, and (2) determine the validity of the task. Twenty Suzuki violin students between 4 and 8 years old were individually administered an author-designed rhythmic task and a series of standardized tasks that measured area and length conservation. The training level of the students was found to be less of a factor in their ability to conserve rhythm than was age and area-length conservation. These results appeared to satisfy the criteria established for validation. Administration of the conservation of rhythm task to a large population of Suzuki violin students seems warranted.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Flavell, J. H. (1963). The developmental psychology of Jean Piaget.New York: D. Van Nostrand.
2.
Ginsburg, H., & Opper, S. (1969). Piaget's theory of intellectual development.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
3.
Goldschmid, M. L., & Bender, P. M. (1968). Concept assessment kit–Conservation.San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
4.
Inhelder, B., & Piaget, J. (1958). The growth of logical thinking from childhood to adolescence (A. Parsons and S. Milgram, Trans.). New York: Basic Books.
5.
McNally, D. W. (1977). Piaget, education and teaching.Hassocks, Sussex, England: Harvester Press.
6.
Nelson, D.J. (1980). The Conservation of Metre in Beginning Violin Students.Psychology of Music, 8(2), 25–33.
7.
Serafine, M. L. (1979). A Measure of Meter Conservation in Music, Based on Piaget's Theory.Genetic Psychology Monographs, 99, 185–229.
8.
Serafine, M. L. (1980). Piagetian Research in Music.Bulletin of the Council of Research in Music Education, 62, 1–21.
9.
Suzuki, S. (1969). The Suzuki violin school (10 vols.). Evanston, IL: Summy-Birchard.
10.
Webster, P. R., & Zimmerman, M. (1983). Conservation of Rhythmic and Tonal Patterns.Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, 71(1), 28–49.
